Shadow Tiger rewrite
by Avatardragontrainer
Summary: What if the Dragon Warrior was only chosen during times of war? Meet Dai Nakamura a fifteen year old white Siberian Tiger and the youngest Dragon Warrior ever. Chosen at the outbreak of a war. He's thrown into a conflict he can't hope to win and with all of China at stake, will he accept his destiny or run from it? Rated T for Violence, mild swearing.
1. Chapter 1

First off I'd like to thank Destiny 3000 over on Deviantart for letting me use his Oc Liu Zhang. I recommend you give his story a read. I'd also like to thank Jweaks2016 for letting me use Kiro...again.

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I don't want any trouble

Dai Nakamura a sixteen year old White Siberian Tiger walked into the Village in the Valley of Peace, it was night but there were still a few Villagers around, he walked into Mr. Pings Noodle shop and sat down at one of the tables keeping a hand on the Dual Dao swords on his hip. "I'll just have a bowl of noodles." he said to Mr. Ping when he approached.

When his order arrived Dai started to eat but a pack of Wolves arrived and knocked his bowl of soup off the table.

"Hey!" Dai protested.

"Give us your money kid." They demanded.

"I don't have any; why don't you rob the bank down the street." Dai said.

A Wolf kicked the table knocking Dai off his chair Dai growled and stood up. The Wolf threw a punch at Dai but he caught it in his hand, dug his claws into the wolf's hand and flipped him over onto the table smashing it, one of the others charged at him, Dai grabbed him and tossed him back into the others.

Dai drew his swords growling, the Wolves drew their own weapons and charged at Dai, he caught one of their axes on his swords and kicked the Wolf back into the wall. The wolf fell to the floor and Dai turned to the others, taking a fighting stance.

The Wolves decided to turn and run rather than fight. "Yeah, you better run!" Dai yelled after them sheathing his swords.

"Impressive." A voice said from above, Dai looked up and saw an orange and black tigress jump down from the roof top.

"Where you up there the whole time?" Dai asked.

"Nearly." The tigress said.

"Why didn't you help?" Dai asked her.

"You looked like you had everything under control." The tigress replied.

Dai growled at her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Dai Nakamura." Dai said sheathing his swords

"I'm Tigress." the orange and black tigress said.

"Well Tigress, it was nice to meet you but I've gotta go." Dai said.

"Do you know where I can stay a night or two?" he asked.

"You don't have Family in the Valley?" Tigress asked.

"No, I'm kinda on my own." Dai said shifting uncomfortably in place.

"Why don't you stay at the Jade Palace?" Tigress suggested "We have enough room."

Staying at the Jade Palace sounded great to Dai but he bowed and said.

"Thanks for the offer Ti but I don't think you want me at the Jade Palace, I'll find my own place to stay for now I don't plan on staying too long."

Dai ended up sleeping against the wall outside the noodle shop when suddenly his eyes snapped open. He stood up looking around his blue eyes glowing in the darkness as he turned in place; two wolves came out of nowhere and attacked him.

Still drowsy the wolves quickly forced Dai against the wall one pinned him there while the other punched him repeatedly in the chest, they continued beating him up until Dai drew one of his Kunai Daggers and stabbed one of the Wolves, the remaining wolf ran off leaving Dai on the ground coughing and hacking up blood.

It was sheer luck that Tigress had come down to the Village to check on him and found him on the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked helping him up off the ground.

"I've had worse." Dai said coughing and wiping the blood off his mouth.

"Does your offer to stay at the Palace still stand?" he asked.

"Of course it does." Tigress said and helped Dai walk up the stairs.

"This is just ridiculous, why are there so many steps?" Dai commented as they climbed.

"Master Shifu!" Tigress called out when they reached the top, a small red Panda appeared.

"What's going on? Who is this?" he asked eyeing the white tiger leaning on Tigress.

"His name is Dai Nakamura." Tigress answered. "He was attacked by wolves in the village, I offered to let him stay here while heals." Tigress added.

"Hi." Dai managed to say between breaths, waving.

Master Shifu looked between the two tigers. "Very well he can stay but only until he heals, then I want him gone."

Tigress gave what resembled a smile and took Dai to a room in the Barracks.

"It's okay I think I can manage from here." Dai said at the door.

Tigress left him, he stumbled into the room and fell onto the bed.

Dai fell asleep quickly despite being in a strange place and slept late, it was around midday before he finally woke up.

He got up and noticed the new cloths sitting nearby a black shirt and a pair of grey pants he picked them up gratefully, his current clothing was worn and had tears in it. Dai quickly changed into the new pants and shirt, just as he slung his swords over his back there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." Dai said and Master Shifu entered his room.

"Master Shifu!" Dai exclaimed jumping to his feet.

"How are you feeling?" Master Shifu asked.

"Better, I guess." Dai said.

"Don't plan on remaining here too long." Master Shifu said.

"Once you're injuries have healed I expect to be on your way."

"Yes sir." Dai said trying to be polite.

"You may join us in the Training Hall if you wish." The red Panda said leaving.

Once Master Shifu had left Dai let out a quiet growl he didn't like Shifu already.

His last Master; Master Li had been more like a father figure to him. Dai decided to check out the Training Hall anyway; as long as Shifu didn't make him fight he should be fine.

Dai walked into the Training Hall and looked at all the obstacles.

"So you've decided to join us." Master Shifu said.

"Yeah well, I've got nothing else to do and besides this might be fun to watch." Dai said watching Tigress and Shifu's ear twitched.

"Since you're here, why don't you show us what you can do?" Master Shifu said.

"Wait, you want me to do _all_ that?" Dai asked and then suddenly changed his attitude.

"Okay." He said shrugging and got ready to run the course, Master Shifu snapped his fingers and Dai took off he fought his way through the obstacles dodging the Seven clubs of Instant Oblivion and balanced of the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, jumped down and fought his way through the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors, taking a few hits.

The Fiery Field of Death proved more difficult Dai avoided the flames until one caught his arm on fire, Tigress attempted to help him Shifu stopped her.

Dai quickly put the flame out and jumped out of the flames and went back over to Master Shifu.

"How'd I do?" he asked a little out of breath, Shifu's ear twitched and Dai took it as a sign he'd done something right that irritated him somehow.

Dai remained in the Training Hall to watch Tigress train. It was amazing how gracefully she moved from one obstacle to another. Tigress caught Dai watching her and blushed under her orange fur she had never seen another tiger before much less a white tiger, from what she knew they were supposed to be really rare.

From the look of him Dai must have grown up in the northern region of China, there was an accent in his voice she couldn't place too his last name sounded Japanese though, Tigress frowned she'd ask him after training.

Dai left the Training Hall a few minutes later and went back down to the village he bought an apple from the apple cart and wondered through the village eating it.

Eventually he made his way back up to the Palace and to his temporary room. A minute later Tigress came to see him.

"Oh, hey Tigress." Dai said opening the door.

"I wanted to talk to you." Tigress said.

Oh? About what?" Dai asked.

"Who are you?" She asked.

* * *

So….not much is different from the original but that'll change

Anyway please leave a review it helps motivate me and does help a lot…really.


	2. Chapter 2

A past forgotten

I uploaded this using my new tablet so bare with me if you see errors.

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"It's kind of a long story you sure you want to know?" Dai asked letting her in.

"I'm just curious I guess." Tigress said sitting on the floor.

"Where did you learn to fight?" Tigress asked as Dai sat in front of her. "You seemed to make easy work of those wolves."

"Well I don't have much formal Kung Fu training. I mostly depend on my skill with a blade." Dai said patting his swords.

"Really?" Tigress asked.

"Yep." Dai answered.

"So why are you in the valley? You're clearly not from around here." Tigress asked.

"I'm on my way home, to Gong-men City, to find my family. I only stopped here to rest." Dai said.

"You live in Gong-Men City? Do you have family there?" Tigress asked assuming that's why he was going there.

"Yeah." Dai said. "At least…I did, until I ran away when I was about eleven."

"Why'd you run away?" Tigress asked.

"I was accused of a murder, I didn't commit I was only defending myself!" Dai said clenching his fists, growing angry.

"What happened then?" Tigress asked.

"I traveled around for awhile going from place to place until I ended up at the Bao Gu Orphanage."

"Wait, you were at Bao Gu?" Tigress asked holding a hand up interrupting Dai's story.

They were about the same age, Dai was maybe a year or two older. She didn't remember any other Tigers at the orphanage much less white tigers'.

"I was only there for about a week before I ran away." Dai explained. "I didn't belong there, with the others, I still had a family."

"I know how you feel." Tigress said. "I was ridiculed by the other children, no one wanted to adopt me, they called me a monster."

In the back of Dai's memory he remembered the other orphans mentioning a monster.

"You don't look like a monster to me." Dai said.

"Thanks." Tigress said.

"Afterward, I got involved in a fighting ring, that's where I learned most of my fighting skills. I climbed all the way up to number two on the list." Dai said.

"Master Li found me when I was thirteen and took me in instead of arresting me, he said I had potential. I spent the next three years at his academy until I decided to leave, to find my parents then I ended up here." Dai finished.

"I'll leave you be." She said and left seeing Dai was disturbed by something. She had the feeling he was hiding something too like he hadn't told her the full story.

After Tigress Dai undressed and lied down on his bed and slowly feel asleep.

* * *

-The Next Morning-

Someone shook Dai's shoulder waking him up and he pounced on them knocking them to the floor, holding a Kunai Dagger to their throat.

"What are you doing!?" Tigress said glaring at Dai.

"Tigress?" Dai said blinking a few times standing back up. "Sorry about that you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that." He said holding a hand out to Tigress to help her up.

She took it and Dai pulled her quickly to her feet.

Suprised by his strength Tigress nearly crashed into Him.

Not being used to the summer heat Dai was in his underwear.

Tigress looked at him he looked in good shape his muscles were defined but not overly obvious. She blushed under fur orange fur and turned back around.

"Did you want something Ti?" He asked turning around revealing scars on his back that made Tigress gasp the stripes on his back were broken in multiple places almost as if someone had tried to remove them.

"Tigress?" Dai said again.

"Um...Master Shifu wants us in the training hall." She said snapping out of her shock, what had happened to him to make those scars?

"Both of us?" Dai asked.

"Yes." Tigress answered her back still to him, and then left the room.

Dai finished getting dressed and went after her. He arrived at the Training Hall a few moments after she did and as usual Shifu looked irritated by something, probably him.

"You seem to be settling in nicely." Shifu said to Dai.

"Um…yeah, the beds are comfy, there's a nice view of the valley; it's great." Dai said.

Shifu's ear twitched, "Remember I want you gone once you've healed." He said.

"Right." Dai said sounding a little disappointed.

"I have no training for you today." Master Shifu said to them.

"Really?" Dai asked.

"Yes, enjoy your day." Master Shifu said.

"Sweet!" Dai exclaimed.

-Down in the Village-

"So what do you do for fun around here?" Dai asked as he and Tigress walked through the village.

"What do you mean?" Tigress asked.

"You can't spend all day up at the Palace, what do you do when you're in the village?" Dai asked.

"Mostly I just stay up at the Palace and train." Tigress said.

"Well, that doesn't sound like very much fun." Dai said and paused.

"What is it?" Tigress asked.

"Tigress, those are the wolves who attacked me." Dai whispered seeing the wolves in the crowd, gripping his Kunai.

"What are you doing?!" Tigress hissed grabbing Dai's arm.

"You would rather wait around until they hurt someone else?" Dai asked watching the bandits

"Well no, but they haven't done anything." Tigress said.

"They attacked me, isn't that good enough." Dai said still eying the wolves.

"If they haven't done anything wrong we can't arrest them." Tigress said.

"Well I for one don't plan on waiting around for them to attack someone else." Dai said breaking free of Tigress, drawing his Kunai and creeping forward.

"Dai, wait!" Tigress hissed but soon lost him in the crowd. She turned on the spot and saw a flash of white fur and headed towards it but soon lost it.

Motion caught her eye from her side; she turned towards it making her way through the crowd.

"Sorry." She said when she bumped into another tiger, his face hidden by a hood. Tigress stopped and turned around something was familiar about that tiger, but he was gone already.

Tigress shook it off and kept looking for Dai in the crowd. She heard something behind her like a sword being unsheathed and turned around to see a sword swinging at her face she raised her arm to block it, but it never came.

"That's not very nice." She heard Dai say and opened her eyes to see him holding the bandit's sword with his hand before it hit her.

Dai ripped the sword out of the bandit's hand, punched him in the middle of the face, he crumpled to the ground.

"Thanks." Tigress said staggered the wolf had gotten so close to her without her hearing him.

"No problem." Dai answered spinning the sword in his hand grinning.

"You're bleeding." Tigress said noticing Dai's hand.

"Huh? Oh look at that." Dai said looking at his hand, he hadn't noticed.

"We should get you to the infirmary." Tigress said.

"It's not a big deal, I've had worse, and shouldn't we get them to jail first?" Dai said wiping the blood off his hand on his pants.

"What about the others?" Tigress asked.

"I wouldn't worry about them." Dai said.

-The top of the Palace stairs, the end of the day-

"Dai, Tigress where have you two been!" Master Shifu demanded when they arrived at the top of the stairs.

"Okay, not the reaction I was hoping for." Dai said.

"We ran into some bandits in town." Tigress said. "Dai took them out, before they could hurt anyone though."

"I see; well done Dai. Did you arrest them?" Master Shifu asked.

"Well no, Dai spotted them in the crowd and dealt them." Tigress admitted.

"Were you attacked yourselves?"

"No Dai thought it was best to take them out before they hurt anyone." Tigress again admitted

"I see." Master Shifu said glaring at Dai.

"You know the rules, Tigress." Master Shifu stated. "You can't simply attack bandits unprovoked."

Dai could no longer remain silent

"Then what's the point!?" He exclaimed. "I was taught to act when I saw a potential threat, not wait around until something happens, what if those bandits had hurt or killed someone?"

"Those are the rules and you will follow them as long as you're at the Jade Palace." Master Shifu said.

"Your rules are stupid, your own daughter could have been killed today, if I hadn't intervened." Dai argued pointing at Tigress.

"I'll be in the village if you need me." Dai said after a moment heading back down the Palace stairs. "Master, was that really necessary?" Tigress asked once Dai had disappeared from view.

"Dai could be a good warrior."

"No!" Shifu said. "He's reckless, impulsive, undisciplined and has no regard for the rules."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Tigress said quietly.

"What?" Master Shifu said turning to his student.

"He saved my life!" Tigress said turning to her Master. "His disregard for the rules let us stop those bandits; we would've never been able to without him."

"Regardless, he has no place here." Master Shifu said turning and leaving.

Tigress watched Dai walking down the stairs, than followed her Master inside.

* * *

So there's the second chapter, I'm still trying to figure out an upload schedule.


	3. Chapter 3

Sticking around

Dai made it nearly halfway down the Palace stairs when Tigress caught up with him.

"Wait up!" She said catching up with him. "Come back up to the Palace with me."

Dai sighed and shook his head. "No, I'll just stay in the Village, besides I don't think your father wants me around anyway. I'll be in the Village if you need me. I'll see you around Ti."

With that, Dai walked off leaving Tigress on the stairs.

The next morning Tigress got up before the gong and raced down into the village hoping to see Dai before he left, to her surprise she found him chatting with a Villager about something.

Dai saw her and waved her over.

"Morning Tigress," He greeted her.

"Good morning," Tigress said back then paused when she saw a travel pack by Dai's feet.

"Are you leaving?" She asked indicating to the pack on the ground.

"I'm leaving later today," Dai said. "I'm just getting a few more things together."

"You're really leaving?" Tigress asked surprised and Dai nodded.

"Listen before I go I wanted to apologize about last night." Dai started to say

"It's okay," Tigress said holding up her hand.

"No, I let my anger get to me," Dai said.

"Listen, you want to go out for breakfast?" Dai asked. "I hear Mr. Ping is having a sale on bean buns."

"Sure," Tigress answered.

"Table for two please," Dai said to the young Panda (Po) who approached them.

The Panda led the two tigers to a corner table and they sat down.

"Yesterday you said you trained under a Master Li who is he? I've never heard of him." Tigress said

"A Panther who runs a Kung Fu Academy in northern China," Dai said. "I trained under him for three years and became a Weapons Master,"

"A Weapons Master?" Tigress asked surprised, and Dai nodded.

Tigress knew Dai was good with a sword but she would have never guessed he was a _Master_ , at only sixteen.

"Come back up to the Palace with me," She said.

"I'd love to, really but I have a family out there Ti,"

"You're an Orphan; I wouldn't expect you to understand,"

"I..."

"Ah there you two are," Master Shifu interrupted entering the restaurant

"A couple thieves broke into the Bao Gu Orphanage last night, Dai, Tigress I want you to investigate." Master Shifu said.

Dai wasn't too thrilled about having to return to the Orphanage but didn't argue.

"We'll leave right away, Master," Dai said.

"Good." Master Shifu said.

-Meanwhile at Tai Lung's hideout-

"Rumors are spreading of a new warrior that has arrived at the Jade Palace; one who could undermine our plans to steal the dragon scroll." Tai's lung said to his apprentice Kiro Takimuro.

"I want you to travel to the valley of peace and kill him before he becomes a problem for us."

"Yes, Master," Kiro said putting his hood up, leaving the hideout.

-With Kiro-

Kiro entered the village keeping his hood up so no one could see his face he approached a villager.

"I'm looking for a Dai Nakamura could you tell me where he is?" He asked. "I'm an old friend."

"Sorry, He and Tigress left this morning for the Bao Gu Orphanage." The Villager said.

"Okay, thank you. I'd appreciate it if you kept this to yourself." Kiro said tossing the Villager some gold coins.

"No Problem!" The villager said running off.

-With Dai-

The short trip to the Bao Gu Orphanage about as Dai expected, he still wasn't sure how he felt about this when he knocked on the door.

A minute later the goat who ran the Orphanage answered the door.

"Can I help you?" He asked seeing the white tiger.

"Master Shifu sent us, he said you had a break in?" Dai said.

The goat looked at Dai and then at Tigress a flash of recognition crossed his face.

"Dai? Dai Nakamura?" he asked. "Tigress, Tigress the monster?"

"Yes, it's me," Dai said.

Tigress, however, remained silent.

"Come in," Bao said stepping aside to let them in.

"I haven't seen you two in years, you certainly grew up!"

"We were all devastated when you ran away Dai."

"You and I both know I didn't belong here Bao," Dai said. "Now, can you tell me exactly what happened last night?" He asked getting to the point.

"A couple thieves broke in during the night," Bao said. "Nothing was stolen and no one was hurt."

A loud clap of thunder made Dai jump a little.

"Still afraid of storms?" Bao asked.

"Only the really bad ones," Dai said.

"Well, it doesn't make much sense for you to walk back in this storm," Bao said. "You're old rooms are open I believe."

Seeing no other option Dai agreed to stay the night in his old room.

Bao showed them to their rooms.

"Tigress, you'll have to share yours with a Panther named Liu Zhang,"

Instead of going to bed Dai spent the first part of the night patrolling the hallways until he came across a shade of black that didn't quite seem to match the rest of the darkness.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Dai asked and young a Black Panther appeared.

"How'd you see me?" the panther asked.

"What's your name?" Dai asked.

"I'm Liu Zhang!" The Panther said. "Who are you? You're too big to be a cub." She said eying up the Tiger in front of her, ready to fight.

"I'm Dai, used to live here," Dai said.

"You used to be an orphan like me?" Liu asked. "Did you get adopted?"

"No, I already have a family," Dai said.

"Oh," Liu said her ears lowering. "I'm hoping to get adopted someday!"

"But no one seems to want me."

"I'm sure you'll get adopted one day," Dai said.

"Really?" Liu asked hopefully

Dai was gonna say something else but stopped in mid thought when he heard something, like a window breaking.

Afraid the thieves might have returned Dai turned to Liu and said: "Liu, go back to your room and hide, stay there."

"But...I can help, I can fight!" Liu said.

"No, go hide." Dai hissed pointing.

He watched Liu run back to her room and went after the source of the sound.

"Stealing from Orphans how low can you get?" Dai said when he found the thief.

The thief turned to face Dai, his face was obscured by his hooded cloak but Dai saw a tiger tail swaying back and forth.

He under the cloak he scoffed and said.

"I'm insulted, I'm an assassin, not a thief." he said facing Dai.

The assassin reached in his cloak for a staff weapon, Dai wasn't going to give him the chance to draw it and charged at him spin kicking him into the wall.

Dai pinned him there, it was hard to see under the hood but it looked like another white tiger.

The tiger head butted Dai and delivered an uppercut to his chin knocking him back against the opposite wall.

Dai tried to draw one of his swords but the Tiger knocked it from his hand and kicked him in the chest, knocking him into the wall.

Dai ducked and tackled him as the tiger punched at him.

Dai pulled out his kunai and drove it into his shoulder, or tried to; the tiger rolled throwing him off.

Dai forced the tiger back down the hall, it seemed they were pretty evenly matched neither could gain an advantage.

He backed the tiger against the window and heel kicked him out.

Dai watched the tiger fall and land on the muddy ground.

Before Dai could finish him a scream caught his attention making him whirl around.

 _"Liu!"_

Dai raced back to where he'd seen Liu last and saw her being dragged out of her room by her shirt.

"Let me go!" She yelled trying to fight off the person holding her.

"What's going on?" Tigress asked running up to the scene, sliding to a stop when She saw Liu being held by the wolf.

"Stop squirming."

"Let go of her!" Dai said loudly.

"Dai, help!" Liu said seeing the tiger.

"Move and she dies!" The person holding her said pressing a knife against Liu's neck making her bleed.

"Okay, just let her go," Dai said calmly, reaching for his Kunai Dagger.

"Do not move!" the person repeated pressing the knife into Liu's neck more making her whimper.

The sight of Liu's blood enraged Dai making his fur stand on end.

Dai growled loudly grasping his Kunai.

"I said don't move..." He was cut off as Dai's Kunai embedded itself in his skull, he fell over backward neither he nor Liu had seen Dai throw it.

Dai rushed over to Liu.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"That was awesome! I didn't even see you throw the dagger!" Liu said.

"At least, you're okay," Dai said retrieving his dagger.

Dai examined Liu's neck but it didn't look that bad to him.

"We should clean that up just in case." He said.

"Okay," Liu said leading Dai back to her room.

"Are _you_ okay, though?" Tigress asked, "You look a little beat up,"

"I'm fine, Kung Fu isn't exactly my strong suit," Dai said.

-Later-

"If it's okay I'd like to come back in a couple days to see Liu," Dai said.

"That'd be great, Liu doesn't get too many visitors," Bao said.

"Okay, I'll be back in a day of two," Dai said.

"By Liu!" Dai called out, waving to the panther.

Dai and Tigress took their time and reached the Jade Palace around noon.

"You've returned, you're late," Master Shifu said when they reached the top of the stairs.

"Sorry Master, A storm forced us to stay overnight at the Orphanage," Dai explained.

"Very well," Master Shifu said. "Follow me."

Dai shrugged and followed him.

"While you were at the orphanage Tai Lung was spotted entering the valley." Master Shifu said once they had entered the Hall of Heroes.

"Tai Lung?" Dai asked.

He was familiar with the story having heard it during his travels.

"Isn't He supposed to be in jail for trying to steal the Dragon Scroll?"

"Yes, he escaped some time ago, and recruited an apprentice." Master Shifu said.

"Whoa, Tai Lung as an apprentice? How do I get that job?" Dai said.

Master Shifu glared at Dai.

"Yes, we believe the two are returning to the Valley to once again try to steal the Dragon Scroll." Master Shifu Said.

"And you want Tigress and me to stop them," Dai said finishing Master Shifu's thought.

"No!" Master Shifu said. "Tai Lung will kill you, I want you and Tigress to evacuate the Villagers, escort them to a safe place."

"Master Shifu, I really think Tigress and I would be better served to fight Tai Lung and his apprentice." Dai protested.

"No, you and Tigress will evacuate the villagers, Master Oogway and I shall handle Tai lung and his apprentice." Master Shifu said sternly.

"Yes, master," Dai said reluctantly.

"But first..."

Dai looked up and saw they were standing under the Dragon Scroll, he could see where this was headed already.

"Oh no you're not, not me; pick Tigress instead, she deserves it, she..."

"You are the Dragon Warrior." Master Shifu insisted.

-Back with Kiro-

"Ah, Kiro you've returned early did you kill the warrior?" Tai Lung asked.

"No….Master, he was stronger than I thought." Kiro said. "He is very skilled with…weapons, a weapons Master even."

Tai Lung growled at Kiro.

"I do not tolerate FAILURE!" He roared rounding on Kiro making him shrink back.

"We might be able to salvage this, go back to the return to the valley, find his weakness and finish the job this time!" Tai Lung ordered.

"Yes, Master," Kiro said.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait, I've been super busy with other projects, I'll try up the next chapters on a more regular schedule.


	4. Chapter 4

The Apprentice

* * *

A week later, Dai was still in the Village, having changed his mind about leaving. He'd even managed to purchase a small apartment, how he could afford it Tigress didn't know, she wasn't she _wanted_ to know either.

Going down to the Village during a lunch break one day she saw the white tiger in question out for a run.

"Hey Ti," He said spotting her, running over, slightly out of breath.

"Hello Dai," Tigress greeted him, noticing he was shirtless, something the male tiger didn't do very often. Her eyes travel over Dai's body, she saw how physically fit he was. He wasn't overly muscle bound like some males she'd seen, yet he had the body of a warrior.

"Nice day for a run," He said snapping Tigress out of her gaze.

"Yeah," She said, quickly turning her head away, making Dai chuckle.

"No training today?" He asked.

"No, I'm on a lunch break," Tigress said.

"Alright well, you wanna get some lunch?" Dai asked. "I was about to go myself."

"Okay," Tigress said after a moment of thought.

Dai and Tigress walked over to a stall selling caramelised apples, and Dai bought two, one for each of them.

"Here ya go," Dai said handing Tigress an apple.

"Thank you," Tigress said taking the treat.

Far above them, Master Shifu watched through a looking glass, his ear twitching as the two walked through the Village eating the apples Dai had bought them. He grumbled and put the glass away. There was something Master Shifu didn't like about that tiger, but he didn't know what it was. It wasn't just because he thought Tigress was getting too close to him either, ever since Dai had shown up, she'd seemed…distracted, and now she was visiting him in the village every other day.

* * *

Back in the Village both Dai and Tigress sat next to each other, leaning against a building talking about random things as they ate their apples.

"So, how long did it take you to become a Weapons Master?" Tigress asked out curiosity.

"About ten years, my Dad started training me when I was about six," Dai said

"Who is your father?" Tigress asked.

"A Samurai General," Dai said.

"A Samurai?!" Tigress asked genuinely surprised. She wouldn't have thought Dai came from a Samurai bloodline, from the way he acted.

"But what about you? How long have you trained at the Jade Palace?" Dai asked.

"Since I was about six," Tigress said. "Master Shifu adopted me and brought me to the Palace, to train."

"Doesn't sound like much of a childhood," Dai commented, throwing his stick away.

"No, I guess not," Tigress said finishing her apple.

"Thank you, that was delicious," Tigress said finishing hers

"Don't mention it," Dai said. "You…should probably head back to the Palace; before Master Shifu gets too angry."

"Yeah," Tigress said standing up with Dai.

Before they could go anywhere, a hooded figure dropped down from the roof top wielding two red, glowing staff weapons.

"You!" Dai snarled recognizing the figure from the orphanage.

"Rematch, baby!" The figure said whirling the staffs around in his hands.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do? Swing those glow-sticks at me? _Real_ intimidating," Dai taunted, drawing his sword.

"RAH!"

"Tigress! Wait!" Dai yelled out but it was too late, Tigress charged the hooded figure, attacking him with a series of punches and kicks. At first, she succeeded, until the apprentice hit her with one of the staffs, causing Tigress to yell and back off.

"What are those things?" She asked holding her arm where it had been burned.

"You like my staffs?" The Figure asked. "Let me show you how they work."

The hooded figure drove them into the ground shocking both Dai and Tigress, causing them to fall to their knees.

The figure took advantage of this and charged at them, swinging the staffs at Dai's head as he stood up, making him roll backwards. Dai had just managed to stand back up when the figure hit him under the chin with staff, sending him back to the ground.

"Who's laughing now, huh?!" The figure jeered, advancing towards Dai, who reached behind him and threw his Kunai at the figure, it missed, flying over his shoulder, but it gave Dai the chance he needed to stand up and rush the cloaked figure with Tigress.

Together, Dai and Tigress pushed him back, forcing the figure to take a defensive stance against the two tigers, so he combined his two staff weapon into one long weapon.

"That's a neat trick," Dai commented as the figure whirled the staff around, beckoning them to attack.

The figure smirked and counter-attacked with the weapon.

"The Dragon Scroll belongs to my Master!" The apprentice said.

The Apprentice hit Tigress in the gut with the end of the staff, when she doubled over he hit her on the side of the head, spinning her to the ground.

Dai looked at Tigress on the ground and growled.

The Apprentice chuckled evilly and beckoned Dai to attack.

"Come on tiger, avenge your girlfriend," He said.

"She's not my…Oh forget it," Dai said and ran at the other tiger hitting him with a series of punches and kicks, he caught the staff weapon in his hand surprising the apprentice.

"Yeah," He said, ripping the staff weapon from his hand, spinning it, and hitting him under the chin with the weapon, sending him to the ground.

The fight over, Dai stood there a moment, panting, heavily he examined the staff weapon in his hand, then, not knowing how to separate the weapon, placed it on his back as guards from the prison showed up.

"Hey,…that's mine," The figure mumbled as the guards picked him up off the ground. "Give it back."

"I wouldn't worry about it, you're going to Chorh-Gom Prison for a _very_ long time," Dai said back. "What?! No!" The Apprentice yelled as the guards dragged him away.

Dai ignored the apprentice and hurriedly went over to Tigress, who was lying on the ground, she had a nasty looking cut on the side of her head.

"You okay?" he asked kneeling down next to her.

"I feel sick," Tigress said, slowly getting up on all fours.

"That was quite a blow to the head," Dai said, helping Tigress to her feet. "You've probably got a concussion, I'll take you back up the Palace."

Dai walked Tigress up to the Jade Palace, about halfway up the stairs, Tigress collapsed, forcing Dai to carry her bridal style up the rest of the stairs.

"What happened?" Master Shifu asked seeing Tigress in Dai's arms, running forward.

"We ran into Tai-Lung's apprentice in the Village," Dai explained, heading for the infirmary. "The Guards hauled him off to Chorh-Gom Prison."

"With his Apprentice in jail, Tai-Lung will attempt to steal the scroll himself, we cannot allow him to succeed," Master Shifu said.

"And, how are we going to do that?" Dai asked laying Tigress on a cot. "Tigress is out of action, and I'm wounded too."

"I don't know," Master Shifu said.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't know!" Master Shifu repeated and left the infirmary, leaving Dai with Tigress.

* * *

-Early the next morning-

Tigress groaned and awoke to find herself in the Palace infirmary, she frowned, not knowing how she'd gotten here. She rolled over and saw Dai lying on the cot next to hers, had he brought her up from the village?

Dai rolled over yawning and saw Tigress awake, watching him.

"Hey! You're awake!" He said quickly sitting up. "How do you feel?"

"Horrible, my head hurts," Tigress said putting a hand on her head, feeling the thick bandage.

Memories of yesterday flooded her mind.

"You fought off Tai-Lung's apprentice, and brought me back here?" Tigress said.

"Yeah," Dai said. "You collapsed about halfway up the stairs, so I carried you the rest of the way up."

"You did?" Tigress asked.

"Yep," Dai said.

A door opening made the two turn to see Master Shifu enter the infirmary.

"Master Shifu," Tigress said sitting all the way up. "What are we going to do about Tai-Lung?"

"You are in no condition to fight Tai-Lung," Master Shifu said after awhile. "For now, evacuate the Village, I will fight Tai-Lung."

"But Master…You'll die," Tigress said from the cot, sitting up.

"Then I will have paid for my mistake," Master Shifu said.

"Go, NOW!" Master Shifu ordered the two.

"Yes, Master," The two said and ran out of the Palace.

"I'll take the north, you take the south," Dai said pointing at the Village.

"Right," Tigress said running down the stairs.

Dai, however, looked around, finding a shield grabbed it smiling and ran towards the stairs, dropping it, surfing down the Palace Stairs, past Tigress.

"See you at the bottom Ti!" Dai shouted as he passed her.

Tigress stopped, marveling at Dai's ability to stay balanced on the shield…until he fell off about three-quarters of the way down, making Tigress wince each time Dai hit the stairs.

"Are you okay?" She asked running up next to him chuckling lightly.

"Haha, I knew I could get you to laugh!" Dai said making Tigress punch him on the shoulder.

The Evacuation went about as well as it could, no one argued with them.

"The Village has been completely evacuated," Dai said when they returned to the Palace that evening.

"Good," Master Shifu said. "Tigress, I wish to speak with Dai alone."

"Yes, Master," Tigress said bowing, leaving the Hall of Heroes.

"So…what did you want to talk about?" Dai asked.

"Tigress," Master Shifu said.

Dai winced slightly, knowing where this was going already. With Tigress visiting the Village so often over the last week or so, rumors had spread about him and Tigress, they must have reached Master Shifu somehow.

"What have you been doing with my Daughter, when she visits the Village?" Master Shifu asked, turning around to face Dai.

"Nothing much, just hanging out in the Village," Dai said shrugging. "Stopping the occasional bandit or two."

"I see," Master Shifu said.

"Tigress tells me you're a weapons master," Master Shifu said.

"Yes," Dai said unsure of where this was going.

"Follow me," Master Shifu said.

Dai followed Master Shifu to the moon pool at the end of the Hall.

" _You_ are the Dragon Warrior." Master Shifu stated.

Dai stood there for a moment before...

"What?! I don't want to be Dragon Warrior, I can't be! I'm only sixteen years old." He protested. "Pick Tigress instead, she deserves it more than I do, she's trained all her life for it."

"No, _you_ are the Dragon Warrior," Master Shifu insisted.

"I can't," Dai said backing up, running out of the Hall of Heroes.


	5. Chapter 5

Dragon Warrior

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

-A few days later, just outside the Valley-

After a few days of playing with the staff weapons, and nearly blowing himself up, Dai had managed to figure them out, they now hung from his right hip as he walked down the road towards a bar. Dai walked up to the entrance, pausing before he entered and walked up to the counter taking a seat at the bar.

"A bottle of Sake please." He said sitting at the bar.

"Aren't you a bit young to be in here?" The bartender asked eyeing Dai.

"Just give it to me," Dai said placing some coins on the bar, placing a hand on his new staffs.

Luckily, it was pretty empty, there weren't any other people in the bar.

"Whatever you say." The Bartender said placing a bottle of Sake on the bar in front of Dai.

"You can leave the bottle," Dai said to the bartender.

"Rough day?" He asked.

"You have no idea," Dai said taking a drink.

About halfway through the bottle, Dai saw a hooded figure enter the bar; he lowered the hood revealing Tai Lung's Apprentice, how had he escaped from prison?

Dai turned around, hoping the tiger hadn't seen him and went back to his drink. To his horror, the tiger sat right next to him on his right.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The Apprentice asked looking at Dai.

"I don't think so," Dai said taking another drink.

"No, I'm pretty sure I've seen you somewhere," The Apprentice said looking at Dai more closely

Dai rested a hand on his staffs just in case the apprentice tried anything.

"Hey, where'd you get those staffs?" The Apprentice asked seeing the staffs on Dai's hip.

"Um…" Dai said trying to come up with a good explanation.

"You stole those weapons," The Apprentice stated. "They belong to me,"

Dai stood up, drawing his Kunai, slicing the Apprentice across the chest, and heel kicked him back into a table, destroying the table.

"Looks like you and I are gonna have a scuffle!" The Apprentice said standing back up, pulled out his emergency dagger.

Dai smirked, pulling the staffs from his hip, sparking them to life making them hum with energy as he spun them around.

"Hey, how'd you figure out how to do that?" The apprentice said sounding unnerved.

"What's wrong? I thought you _wanted_ to fight," Dai said taking a fighting stance.

"I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here, you mind tossing me my staffs," The Apprentice said.

Dai yelled and charged forward, swinging the staffs at his head, he dodged it, but only just.

"I'm gonna make you pay for hurting Tigress," Dai snarled swinging the weapon at the Apprentice.

" _Tigress,"_ The name echoed in Kiro's head like a long forgotten name, and he paused, images flashing through his mind from when he was younger.

"Did you say Tigress?" He asked.

Dai took advantage of Kiro's distraction and slammed the ends of the staff into Kiro's chest, knocking him back, driving the breath out of him.

"What do you care? You tried to kill her!" Dai growled hitting the apprentice on the shoulder with the staff, spin kicking him, under the chin again, knocking him to the floor.

Kiro kicked at Dai with both feet, hitting the staff, and stood back up.

"You may know how to activate those staffs, but you still don't know how to use them properly," Kiro said.

Dai growled in response and combined the weapons into one larger staff.

"Did you forget, I'm a Weapons _Master_ ," He said slamming the staff into the floor, shocking Kiro, making him fall, panting, to his knees.

Dai ran at Kiro swinging the staff, hitting him in the head knocking him over backward to the floor.

Dai swung the staff down at Kiro, but he caught it on his arm and shoved Dai back, Kiro got to his feet and attacked Dai with everything he had, punching and kicking at the other tiger, forcing him back against the counter, the staff pinned between them.

Dai grabbed the bottle he'd been drinking from and smashed it on Kiro's head and kicked him in the gut making him stagger backward holding the side of his head.

"That was a low blow," Kiro said.

Dai stood up, rubbing his neck where the staff had burned him.

"File a complaint," Dai said hoarsely, picking the staff up once more, sparking it.

Kiro audibly groaned. "You don't know when to give up do you?" He asked.

"Nope," Dai said, getting ready to attack Kiro again.

Dai surged forward, swinging the staff at Kiro, Kiro caught it on his forearm and smirked.

"You may be a weapons Master, but I trained with those staffs my entire life!" He said, grabbing the staff, pulling it out of Dai's grip, spinning it around swinging it at Dai like a baseball bat.

Dai ducked under it and head butted Kiro in the gut, knocking the breath out of him, Kiro lost his grip on the staff and Dai picked it up once more and stood over Kiro, ready to deal the final, fatal blow

"Wait! I thought you were supposed to be the good guy, and good guys don't kill unarmed people!" Kiro said as Dai raised the staff to deliver the final blow.

"You're right..." Dai said, pausing, lowering the staff weapon.

Kiro smiled and relaxed thinking Dai was going to take him back to prison.

"Okay, I give up, you can take me back to jail," He said.

"...But I never said I was the good guy," Dai said raising the staff back up, Kiro's smile disappeared.

"Wait no, I surrendered!" He cried, putting his arms up.

Dai yelled brought the weapon down on Kiro's head with a crunch.

He looked down at the now, hopefully, dead apprentice and dropped the staff to the floor and left the bar running back towards the Valley of Peace if Tai Lung's apprentice had tracked him to that bar, Tai-Lung himself was probably at the village by now wrecking havoc.

Dai ran at full speed for two days and reached the Village and ran back up to the Palace and to the Hall of Heroes and saw The Dragon Scroll still in its place, next he went to the Barracks. To his relief everything looked fine, he breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the barracks as he went past Tigress's room he thought he heard sobbing and paused and quietly opened the door.

He saw her sitting on her bed, she was indeed sobbing, or trying very hard not too, but Dai could see the tears threatening to spill over.

"Tigress?" He asked softly.

Tigress whipped her head up towards the door at the sound of his voice and saw Dai standing in the doorway, looking tired.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi!?" Tigress said getting up, marching over to him and punching him in the face knocking him to the floor. "You run away we need you the most, and you have the nerve to come back here, and all you can say is, Hi?!" She yelled fists clenched, tears spilling over.

"I'm sorry," Dai said holding his bleeding nose. "I don't want to be the Dragon Warrior, it's too big of a responsibility, but; I shouldn't have run away like I did."

That didn't seem to help Tigress much who was still frowning at him. "Listen," Dai said standing up, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a hug. "I'm not going to leave again."

Tigress stood there in shock as Dai hugged her.

"Promise?" Tigress asked as Dai let go of her. "I promise," Dai said. "I'm not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon."

"Come on, Master Shifu is gonna want to know your back," Tigress said dragging him out of the Barracks.

"Master Shifu!" Tigress said entering the Hall of Heroes with Dai.

"What is it Tigress?" he asked.

"Dai's back." She said.

"So, you've decided to return." Master Shifu said not turning around.

"Yeah," Dai said looking at Tigress.

"Are you ready to accept your destiny?" Master Shifu asked.

"I'm about as ready as I'm gonna get," Dai said.

Master Shifu turned around, holding out the Dragon Scroll for him, Dai noticed Tigress visibly tense up as he took it, then leave the Hall of Heroes.

Dai slowly opened the scroll, and frowned, confused.

"It's blank," He said gazing at his own reflection.

"What?!" Master Shifu asked shocked.

"Here, look," Dai said showing the Master.

"It's blank!" Master Shifu said.

"So, what do we do now?" Dai asked rolling the scroll up again.

"I do not know," Master Shifu said.

"While you figure that out, I'm gonna find Tigress," Dai said leaving the Hall of Heroes.

Dai searched around the Palace grounds, he wanted to talk to Tigress, but he was having trouble finding her, none of the staff had seen her either, it was starting to worry him. Finally, he was about to give up when he walked past the kitchen and saw Tigress sitting at the table and decided to join her.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you, are you okay?" He asked sitting across from the other tiger, she answered him by growling.

"What's wrong?" Dai asked.

Tigress growled loudly and jumped out of her seat.

"YOU! You're what's wrong!" She yelled pointing at him.

"Me?! What did I do?!" Dai said reeling back afraid she might try to hit him…again.

"I trained for years to be Dragon Warrior! And you show up here randomly, and take that chance away!" Tigress yelled knocking the bowl of dumplings off the table.

"I'm sorry," Dai said calmly. "I didn't want to steal your moment; if you want the Dragon Scroll, here," Dai said pushing it across the table towards her.

"What?" Tigress said surprised. "But Shifu chose you."

"I know, but take it, you deserve it more than I do. Besides, it's blank anyway," Dai said getting up to leave.

"Blank!?" Tigress asked shocked, opening the scroll.

"It's blank!" She said in shock looking at her reflection.

"I know, a lot of good it does," Dai said leaving the kitchen, deciding to be by himself.

"Wait up!" Dai paused at the exit and turned to see Tigress running towards him. "It wasn't fair for me to yell at you like that, I'm sorry." Tigress apologized.

"It's okay," Dai said. "I don't blame you."

"Anyway, I was gonna practice some Tai-Chi; you want to come with me?" Dai asked.

"Yes, I would," Tigress answered.

"Great!" Dai said.

Dai took Tigress to the Dragon Grotto near the Palace

"This is incredible! I can't believe I've never been down here before," Tigress said, looking around.

"I found it last night while I was walking around," Dai said. "I figured it'd be a nice place to relax, maybe practice some Tai-Chi."

The two practiced some Tai-Chi moves for awhile until Dai decided to try something, seeing the water droplets falling from the ceiling of the cave.

"Okay, sit here," Dai said to Tigress, pointing.

"Why?" Tigress asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just, trust me," Dai said.

Dai swung his sword and sliced the water droplet in half, another fell from the ceiling, and hit Dai on the top of the head, the next one he hit, and the one after that.

"That was amazing!" Tigress said

If she hadn't seen if for herself, she wouldn't have believed it

"Thanks," Dai said putting his sword away.

"How long did it take you to learn that?" Tigress asked.

"A few years," Dai answered. "Admittedly, it's much easier to slice something like an arrow, or a dumpling, or a bean bun. I was really just showing off."

"I caught an arrow in my hand once," Tigress said.

"Really?" Dai asked. "That's a pretty impressive feat," Dai commented.

"Master Shifu didn't seem to think so," Tigress said.

Dai and Tigress spent the next few hours in the Dragon Grotto practicing Tai-Chi and Kung-Fu, Dai even gave Tigress lessons in using a sword.

The pair left the Dragon Grotto and walked back to the Palace to find the sun setting behind the mountains.

"I guess we were there longer than I thought," Dai said looking at the setting sun.

"I'm going to take a shower," Tigress said walking off the shower.

Dai headed off to his room and changed into some cleaner clothing

-A few hours later-

"Can't sleep either huh?" Dai asked looking up from the book he was reading to see Tigress standing in the doorway to his room.

"China's most wanted and deadly criminal is on his way to the Valley to seek his revenge against us," Tigress said. "So, no I can't sleep."

"Can't say I blame you," Dai said setting the book aside.

"What are you reading?" Tigress asked.

"The Art of War," Dai answered. "It's basically a book on how to wage war." He explained.

Dai and Tigress spent the rest of the night talking, until they fell asleep next to each other on Dai's bed.

-The Next Morning-

"Dai, Tigress what do you think you're doing!?" Master Shifu's voice thundered waking both tigers, making Dai roll of the bed, onto the floor.

"Nothing happened, I swear!" Dai said maybe a little too quickly.

Master Shifu frowned at the white tiger, his ear twitching.

"It's my fault, Master, Dai and me were up talking until late last night," Tigress admitted. "I fell asleep in his room by accident."

Master Shifu looked back and forth at the two tigers.

"Dai, follow me," He said after a few moments.

Dai followed Master Shifu out into the hallway.

"Do you have feelings for my Daughter?" Master Shifu asked bluntly.

"Wow, straight to the point," Dai said nervously, scratching his head.

Dai wasn't sure how to answer the question, sure he liked her

"Well, I like her, I think she's a great fighter, but..."

 _"Oh screw it,"_ He thought

"Yes, I do," He said "Listen, I would have been all too happy to stay in that bar, drinking Sake, but I decided to come back, not because I'm the Dragon Warrior, or because it's my destiny, I came back, for Tigress," Dai said. "I didn't want to see her get hurt because I screwed up."

Dai had no idea Tigress was listening to his conversation with Master Shifu.

* * *

Don't freak out, Kiro's not actually dead, he's just knocked out and is gonna wake up with one heck of a headache, but we won't be seeing him anymore in this story.


	6. Chapter 6

The Storm

I don't own Kung Fu Panda.

* * *

"Do you have feelings for my daughter?" Master Shifu asked bluntly

"Well, I like her, I think she's a great fighter, but..."

There was a long pause before Dai spoke again.

"Yes, I do," He said

"Listen, I would have been all too happy to stay in that bar, drinking Sake. But I decided to come back, not because I'm the Dragon Warrior, or because it's my destiny, I came back, for Tigress. I don't want to see her get hurt, because I screwed up," Tigress heard Dai say to Master Shifu.

Tigress's breath caught in her chest.

"I see," Master Shifu said. "I want to two of you to go down to the Village and keep an eye out for Tai Lung. If you see him _do not_ engage him."

"Yes, Master," Dai said.

A short while later, he and Tigress headed to the Village and scouted around for Tai Lung.

"This place is creepy when it's empty," Dai said as they roamed the empty streets.

"At least it's not foggy," Tigress stated.

A laugh echoed off the buildings making Dai's blood freeze.

He and Tigress turned around in place looking for the source of the laugh.

"We need to tell Shifu," Tigress said.

"It's too late, Tai-Lung is already here," Dai said pausing as lightning flashed, and the Snow Leopard appeared at the base of the Palace Stairs. He was bigger than Dai thought he'd be standing almost a full head taller than Dai even.

"You're never going to get that scroll, Tai Lung!" Tigress said.

"And who's going to stop me? You two? You're just a couple teenagers," Tai Lung said.

"Either way you'll have to go through us, first if you want that scroll," Dai said.

"Bad choice of words, Dai," Tigress said backing up slightly. "Shifu warned us not to fight him,"

""Just the cowardice I'd expect from Shifu's pet students. Fine, have it your way," The Snow Leopard said. "RAH!" Tai-Lun yelled, attacking the two.

Tai Lung moved faster than Dai expected, he didn't even have a chance to draw his sword before Tai Lung was on them, Dai and Tigress blocked every strike Tai Lung delivered.

Dai could tell already that the snow leopard relied heavily on sheer strength, like Tigress. All he needed to do was figure out how to use it against him. When sparring with Tigress, he'd cheat and use his Kunai or claws to defeat her.

Dai's thought process was interrupted when Tai-Lung back-handed Tigress viciously, knocking her into a wall where she collapsed to the ground unmoving. Dai looked from Tigress, back to Tai-Lung.

"I'm gonna kill you for that," He said drawing and holding his sword with two hands. "I killed your apprentice, I'll kill you too."

"Is that what happened to Kiro?" Tai-Lung said. "I'll have to find a better apprentice next time."

Dai yelled charging at Tai-Lung with his sword. Above them, lightning flashed, and thunder roared, storm clouds had gathered, threatening to open up at any moment.

Dai saw Tai-Lung flex his arm and shift his stance to strike his right, so he dodged to the left, slicing Tai Lung on the side.

Tai Lung roared and spin kicked Dai in the head, Dai flew back into a wall, dropping his Sword, falling to the floor. Tai Lung grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

"Where's my scroll?" He demanded

"You'll…never…get that…scroll," Dai gasped grabbing at Tai-Lung's arm as he squeezed his neck.

"Where is it!" Tai-Lung roared.

"I don't…have it…," Dai gasped smirking. "Better luck…next…time…"

"You fool!" Tai Lung yelled slamming Dai into the wall, cracking it.

Dai pulled the claws out on his foot and clawed Tai-Lung's leg, making him yell and drop the Tiger to the ground.

"You little…"

"I'm just full of surprises," Dai said hoarsely.

Tai Lung growled and attacked Dai again, this time, Dai used his agility and dodged to the right, avoiding the strike and kicked Tai Lung in the lower back as he went past.

Dai looked around frantically for his swords, he wouldn't last long against Tai-Lung without them, and they both knew it. Tigress was unconscious on the ground nearby so she couldn't help him, he was on his own.

Dai saw a glint of metal and dashed towards it, he got within arms reach of his sword, when Tai-Lung brought him to the ground, Dai rolled over and clawed the Snow Leopard's face, blinding his left eye.

Tai-Lung roared in pain and punched Dai in the head, his vision blurred as Tai-Lung drew his fist back and punched Dai again, breaking his nose.

"I'm gonna kill you," he said lifting Dai's head off the ground.

Dai closed his eyes, waiting for the final strike, but it never came, he heard Tai-Lung gasp and opened his eyes to see the point of his sword sticking out of Tai-Lung's chest, Tigress standing behind him, holding the sword.

She pulled the sword out, letting Tai-Lung fall to the ground and rushed to Dai's side.

"Great…timing…Ti," Dai said weakly, closing his eyes.

"Dai! Dai wake up!" Tigress yelled, alarmed shaking the tiger.

"You can't leave, not now, we need you!" He heard Tigress yell as his vision faded out.

Dai cracked his eye's open, his whole body hurt, he could feel the bandages wrapped all around him.

"So, I'm not dead, that's great!" He thought. "Tigress must have brought me back to the Palace."

Looking around he saw he was in the Palace infirmary, this time, he was alone. Tigress was nowhere to be seen.

"Tigress?" He called out, worried.

A moment later Tigress appeared, looking fine.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed and rushed over to him, wrapping him in a hug, but quickly letting go.

"And I'm, happy about that," She said letting go of Dai quickly, seeing Master Shifu standing in the doorway

"Ah, Dai I see you've finally awoken," Master Shifu said narrowing his gaze at the two tigers but left with any other word.

"An army is approaching the Valley…"

"Are you kidding me!?" Dai shouted, interrupting Master Shifu. "I just got back on my feet from fighting Tai-Lung, I nearly died, _Tigress_ nearly died! And you want us to go back out there and fight an Army?!"

"Yes," Master Shifu said.

"This is unbelievable," Dai said in disbelief

It seemed that once again the deck was being stacked against him and Tigress.

"Fine," He said. "But I want some armor this time."

With some effort, Dai changed into some basic leather armor and strapped on his swords, then left the infirmary to find Tigress, He found her in her room struggling with her armor.

"Here, let me help," He said walking up behind her. Unlike Dai's Tigress's armor was much nicer and seemed to be sized for her and was made out of metal.

"Why do you get the fancy armor?" Dai asked tightening the straps on the chest plate, making Tigress gasp in surprise.

"Not too tight, I can't breathe," She said.

"You'll thank me later," Dai said turning Tigress around so she faced him so he could work on the gauntlets.

"I've never worn this stuff before," Tigress commented. "It was a gift from a blacksmith after we saved his shop from wolves."

"Alright, you're all set," Dai said patting her on the shoulder.

"Where's your helmet?"

Tigress pointed to the bed and Dai put it on her head tightening the chin strap so it wouldn't come off by accident.

Dai and Tigress then left the Palace and went down in the valley, to wait…and wait, and wait.

"This is always the worst part," Dai commented after a few hours of waiting. "Waiting for the battle to start."

"You've…done this before?" Tigress asked to pass the time.

"Twice," Dai said. "The waiting was always the worst part, the tension before battle."

"When was your first battle?" Tigress asked in an attempt to ease the tension.

"When I was Liu's age, about thirteen or fourteen," Dai said. "A large group of Marauders laid siege to a small town, my friends and I from the Academy had to hold them off until the Imperial Army showed up."

"Sounds difficult," Tigress said.

"Impossible is more like it, but we did it," Dai said, "We held them off for three days until reinforcements arrived."

Tigress tried to picture the scene in her head, thirteen-year-old Dai cutting down enemies with his sword.

"It was after the battle, was when I was awarded the title of Weapons Master," Dai added.

" _Weapons Master at_ _ **Thirteen?!**_ _"_ Tigress thought, she couldn't believe it, she could barely handle a sword at that age, much less use it in a battle for an extended period.

Tigress shook her head in disbelief

"Hey, guys!"

Dai and Tigress both turned to see Liu run up to them dressed in a battle suit.

"Liu, what are you doing here?" Dai asked, wondering why the young Panther wasn't at the Orphanage.

"I wanted to help," Liu said. "I can fight!"

Dai looked at Liu and saw a flashback of his Thirteen-year-old self, saying almost the exact same thing.

"Alright," He said.

"Dai, she's thirteen, she…" Tigress tried to argue, but Dai interrupted her.

"They're gonna try to kill her regardless, we might as well let her fight," He said looking at the horizon, seeing the torches in the distance.

"Remember the plan?" He asked Tigress.

"The Palace is our fall back if they've pushed us back that far, we retreat through the tunnel, and regroup in Gong-Men City," Tigress said.

"Good, Liu did you get all that?" Dai asked, and the girl nodded.

"Good,"

Before long, the marching of soldiers could be heard in the distance.

"Here we go," Dai said loosening his sword in its sheath.

Soon Dai could see the soldiers marching towards them, all different species.

"I hate wolves," He muttered seeing the large Dire wolf out in front.

The wolf spotted them, "Charge!" He yelled pulling a curved sword from his belt, charging forward with a savage war cry.

Dai let loose his own war cry and sprinted forward along with Tigress and Liu. Like Tai Lung, the wolf stood a full head taller than Dai, Dai's best chance to defeat him was to wear him out over time.

As he caught the wolves scimitar on his sword, it nearly knocked him down, and suddenly Dai's plan to wear the beast out didn't seem so viable anymore.

"Heh," The Wolf said, twisting, kicking Dai powerfully in the chest, leaving a dent in the armor, knocking him backward. If Dai hadn't been wearing the armor, his ribs would have been broken.

Dai's breath wheezed out of him, he put a hand on his chest in pain, his ribs might not have been broken, but it still hurt…a lot.

Dai recovered in time to dodge a downward slice from the wolves scimitar, it cut some fur off his arm but didn't cut the skin. Dai looked around quickly for Tigress or Liu, in the chaos of the battle, he'd lost both of them.

A better question was; Where was Master Shifu?

Dai growled in frustration at the Master's absence and drew his attention back to the wolf, slicing him across the shoulder.

"Ha, gotcha!" He yelled victoriously, but the large wolf didn't seem that affected by the wound even as blood ran down his arm.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Dai said.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," The wolf growled spinning his sword in his hand advancing towards Dai.

"Tigress!" Dai shouted backing up.

If there was an advantage, it was only a certain number of soldiers would fit through the entrance to the valley at a time, but sheer numbers were overwhelming them, every time Dai cut down a soldier it seemed another two took his place.

Dai disengaged from fighting the wolf, knowing he couldn't win, and focused on the regular soldiers streaming into the Village. He quickly cut down five of them and laughed before moving on to others. His joy was short-lived, however, as the wolf emerged once more.

"You think you can escape me so easily?" he asked.

"I was kinda hoping to, yeah," Da answered.

As Dai fought the Dire wolf once more, it became clear he was outmatched, he was tired from fighting all the other soldiers. And still more were streaming into the Village.

"The Village is gone, Fall back to the Palace!" He yelled punching the wolf in the snout.

Tigress punched the soldier she was fighting to the ground and looked over at Dai who had already found Liu and was heading back to the Palace. Tigress turned and ran over to them dodging soldiers' weapons as she went.

The three of them sprinted up the Palace Stairs as fast as they could, Liu not being used to it fell behind quickly and fell to the stairs.

"Keep going!" Dai yelled to Tigress and went back for Liu.

The soldiers were almost upon the young panther when Dai kicked the first one back down the stairs making him crash into the others.

"Come on!" Dai said pulling Liu to her feet, pushing her ahead of him as the soldiers attempted to swarm him. Dai broke free of them and ran to Liu grabbing her hand pulling her behind him.

"Dai…I can't…" Liu said on the verge of collapsing again.

Without thinking, Dai picked Liu up and carried her up the stairs and reached the Palace, setting her down one the were safely inside the walls, collapsing to the floor himself.

"How long do you that'll hold them?" Liu asked.

"Not long," Tigress said. "We should head into the Hall of Heroes."

The three retreated into the Hall of Heroes where they were greeted by Master Shifu.

"What's going on out there?" He demanded.

"The Village has been overrun," Dai explained. "We had to fall back."

Before Dai finished his explanation, the Doors to The Palace exploded inwards, throwing shrapnel everywhere, Dai covered Liu to protect her from the deadly debris, he felt a few pieces hit the back of his armor, it hurt but didn't penetrate the armor.

"Thanks," Liu said as Dai let go and faced the doors to see soldiers charge into the courtyard.

"Fall back!" Dai yelled cutting down soldiers as he went.

"You three must escape through the tunnel," Master Shifu said.

"But Master, what about you?" Tigress asked.

"I will hold them here as long as I can, to give you a chance to escape," Master Shifu said.

"But you'll be killed," Dai said.

" _You_ are more important," Master Shifu said to Dai. "Take care of my Daughter."

"Come on," Dai said pulling Tigress's arm, pulling her towards where the tunnel was located.

Dai found the hidden hatch and pried it open with his sword as the sound of fighting erupted outside the hall.

"You first," Dai said lowering Lui into the tunnel.

"Tigress!" Dai said drawing the feline's attention away from the large doors. "We gotta go, now!"

Tigress turned away from the doors and jumped down into the tunnel.

Dai followed her, dropping down just as the doors exploded inward.

"Go! Run!" He said to Tigress and Liu, "They breached the Palace!"

Tigress and Liu ran off down the tunnel, Dai waited for a second before following them, He'd closed the hatch but wasn't sure if the soldiers had spotted him.

His question was soon answered as he heard soldiers behind him.

"Keep going!" He said to Tigress and Liu, stopping drawing his Sword.

Dai couldn't have come up with a worse situation if he wanted, there was almost no room to maneuver down here. The plus side was, the soldiers could only attack him two or three at a time.

Dai yelled and attacked the group of soldiers.

Down the tunnel, Tigress and Liu both heard Dai's war cry and heard the sound of fighting, making Tigress pause, and look back. She couldn't just leave him, with one last look at Liu, she sprinted back down the tunnel.

She saw Dai get thrown against the wall and collapse to the floor gasping for breath. The soldier turned their attention to Tigress, the leader said something, pointing at Tigress and the charged at her. Tigress backed up, blocking their attacks, there was so little room in this tunnel. She grabbed one and threw him into the wall and kicked another, then delivered an uppercut to his chin, knocking him to the floor.

"Dai!" She shouted seeing the white tiger moving again behind the line of soldiers.

Tigress delivered a right hook to another soldier's un-helmeted head, knocking him out.

"Dai!" She shouted again as she realized she was slowly getting overwhelmed.

She heel kicked another soldier, but his metal armor protected him from the blow, he landed a cut to Tigress's upper arm with his sword.

Dai slowly stood to his feet and saw Tigress fighting off the soldiers, but losing.

"Hey!" He shouted loudly enough to get their attention.

"Pick on…someone else," He panted.

It sounded stupid in his head and even more so when he said it aloud, but it got their attention.

"You just won't lay down and die will you," The lead soldier said.

"Nope, I'm like a cockroach, you just can't get rid of me," Dai said smirking getting into a fighting stance.

The soldier roared in a fury and charged at Dai, Tigress saw a glint of metal and saw Dai holding his Kunai in his hand behind his back.

When the soldier got close enough, Dai rushed him, stabbing him in the neck, knocking him over onto the floor. Dai twisted the Kunai and pulled it out of the dying soldier and stood.

"Next…" He said.

What happened Next Tigress didn't know, she'd closed her eyes by now and only heard the sounds of the soldiers being killed. When it was over, she opened them and saw Dai standing over the five dead bodies, blood dripping from his Kunai and claws, blood was splattered over his face and armor as well, he looked like a nightmare.

A moment later, his expression softened, the snarl on his face faded away, he was back to normal.

"Are you okay, Tigress?" He asked wiping his face off with his arm.

"I'm fine, thanks," Tigress said. "We'd better get back to Liu."

Dai and Tigress ran down to the end of the tunnel where they found Liu.

"Right, now all we have to do is sneak past an entire army," Dai said reaching up, opening the hatch. "And we'll be in the clear."

"Alright, the coast is clear," He whispered, climbing out.

Outside, the rain was torrential, and soaked them in seconds, on the plus side, though, it masked their escape.

* * *

If anyone is wondering who Liu is, she's Destiny3000's Oc. I highly recommend you head over to DeviantArt and check out his story Path of the Rising Sun, as well as SnakeTeeth12's story The Adventures of Liu Zhang.


	7. Chapter 7

Fleeing the Valley

I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda

* * *

Dai, Tigress, and Liu sat around a small campfire just outside the Valley of Peace. Liu had her head resting on Dai's shoulder, asleep.

Dai was quietly humming a song.

"What are you humming?" Tigress asked breaking the silence.

"Nothing, I'll stop," Dai said ceasing his humming.

"No, I like it," Tigress said smiling a little.

"It's a lullaby my Mom used to sing to me when I was little,"

"It's nice I…" Tigress was interrupted as an ax landed in the fire, throwing sparks and flames into the air.

"Ambush!" Dai yelled, drawing his sword, startling Liu, waking her up.

Soldiers rushed their camp, Dai quickly cut down the first couple, but more appeared from the trees armed with powerful longbows.

"Go, Run!" He shouted to Tigress and Liu. "I'll catch up!"

Dai pulled a log from the fire and hurled it at a soldier, hitting him in the head, knocking him to the ground. Thunder crashed above him, making Dai glance up quickly, taking his eyes off the soldiers only for a moment, that was all it took. He felt a sharp pain in his chest as an arrow found the weak spot under his armor's chest plate, he fell over backward, hitting his head on the hard ground.

"DAI!" He heard Tigress scream.

Dai looked down at his chest and saw the arrow sticking out of him just under his ribcage. He grasped at the arrow like he might attempt to try to pull it out but left it, looking to his side; he saw Tigress trying to fight off the soldiers, Liu was doing the same, but the numbers were against them. The two were being forced back, steeling himself, Dai managed to get to his feet.

Breathing heavily, he stood up, the arrow still sticking out of him, at the same time the heavens opened up.

"You're…gonna have to…do better…than that," Dai panted, gripping the arrow, drawing his sword, with rain pouring off his body, whether he was talking to the soldiers or the gods Tigress, and Liu didn't know.

Dai let out a savage war cry, raising his sword above his head and charged at the soldiers.

Dai raised his sword to block a strike from an ax and caught the weapon, the blow was strong and made Dai stagger backward a little. He regained his footing and shoved the soldier back, and sliced his across the chest knocking the soldier to the ground.

Dai turned in time to see another soldier coming at him with a large Warhammer and raised his sword to block it, the was the sound of metal breaking as Dai's sword broke in two from the force, Dai staggered backward, falling over. The soldier brought the hammer down, Dai quickly rolled to the side to avoid being hit and kicked the soldier in the gut with both feet and stood back up.

Looking around he saw more and more soldiers pouring into the area and spotted more archers in the trees.

"Tigress, Liu, we gotta go!" He shouted getting their attention.

Tigress nodded and grabbed Liu and ran with following, they quickly lost the soldiers in the deluge.

"Stop…we…gotta stop…a second," Dai said resting against a tree, panting.

Tigress rushed over to Dai and saw the arrow for the first time.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked worriedly.

"I didn't want…you to…worry," Dai said flashing a quick smile.

"It's not as bad…as it looks." He said gritting his teeth through the pain.

"Can you make it to the next Village?" Tigress asked growing more concerned.

"Sure, not a…problem," Dai lied, knowing full well he wouldn't make it that far without medical attention. But he was gonna try anyway and kept walking as the group started moving again, with Dai holding up the rear.

"There's only one way across!" Tigress said over the wind and rain looking at the narrow pathway.

Dai looked at the path, the wind and rain whipping through his fur.

"I'm cold!" Liu said from behind them.

Carefully, the trio walked down the narrow pathway, with Dai and Liu in the lead, Tigress behind them, keeping an eye out for soldiers.

"Liu, wait stop!" Dai yelled, suddenly the muddy ground gave out beneath the two sending them tumbling down the hill. Somewhere along the way down the arrow broke making Dai cry out as he came to rest at them bottom of the hill, where he tried to get up but blacked out shortly after.

"Dai!" Tigress yelled, looking over the precipice.

She saw the two lying in a heap and the bottom and slid down the muddy hillside to them.

She rushed over to Dai and rolled him onto his back, but found the Tiger unresponsive to her, no matter how loudly she pleaded he wouldn't wake.

"There they are, down there, kill them!"

Tigress spun around and looked up at the ridgeline to see a line of archers aiming down at her. The archers took aim and fired, Tigress was able to nimbly dodge the arrows but Dai and Liu lying still on the ground, couldn't.

Liu moaned and woke up, starting to move around.

"Liu stay still!" Tigress hissed, and the girl froze as arrows rained down around her.

"Get down there and get her, I want her alive!" someone yelled pointing down at Tigress and Liu.

" _Liu!"_ Dai's eyes snapped open, he looked around, taking in his surroundings, he didn't see the girl anywhere. The ground was still muddy from the storm, so it must have stopped not too long ago.

Ignoring the pain in his body, he slowly stood up and leaned against a tree.

"Tigress! Liu!" He yelled hoarsely.

No response came back, he saw footprints in the mud, and it looked like there had been a fight. More footprints led away, to another fight scene, this time it looked like someone, or something was being dragged away from the scene. Fear grew in the pit of Dai's stomach, had Tigress and Liu been captured?

"Tigress! Liu!" He shouted as loudly as he dared.

He still didn't hear them respond.

"Tigress!" He yelled a little more loudly.

"Liu!"

An arrow flew past his face scratching him making him cry out, he turned and saw still more soldiers, and one of them was carrying the sword he'd given to Tigress back in the valley.

Dai growled loudly and went into a fighting stance, then seeing the number and weighing the odds, thought twice and ran off.

He dodged and ducked more arrows as the flew past him, finally after nearly a full mile, He crumpled to the ground; utterly exhausted ground. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the night sky as lightning flashed above him, briefly illuminating the forest. Cool rain came down on his broken body

"I'm sorry," He said exhausted, looking up at the night sky, letting the cool rain fall on him, numbing his injuries. Dai closed his eyes for only a moment.

" _Move!"_ It sounded like someone had shouted it at him, his eyes shot open again.

"Definitely, time to go," He said seeing the soldiers again, with an effort Dai got to his feet once more.

Dai watched soldiers dragging off Liu's unconscious body off and growled quietly. He was right, Liu had been captured. But where was Tigress?

He keeping his distance, he shadowed the group to a large military encampment.

"Damn it," He quietly cursed to himself seeing the size of the camp, there was no way he was going to sneak in there without being spotted.

A century walked passed, mere feet from him, and Dai ducked back into the shadows an idea forming in his head. He waited for the century to go past again, and grabbed him, dragging him into the trees.

"Sorry buddy, But I need it more than you do," Dai said stripping the dead soldier of his armor and helmet.

Dai put the armor on, he was lucky he'd found a soldier who was about the same size as him. It was a little loose, but it would work for what he needed. He knew where Liu was being held in the camp, He just didn't know exactly where she was being held.

Using his new disguise, He was able to sneak into the enemy encampment unnoticed and begin his search for Liu.

-Meanwhile-

Liu awoke with a start and groaned at the pain her head from a horrible headache. She tried to move but found her hands tied, she had no idea where she was, or how she'd gotten here. She lifted her head groaning from her stiff neck, looking around she saw she was in a tent, leaning against a post, her armor and weapons had been removed, leaving her in her normal clothing.

She spat the gag out and started work on the rope tying her hands, in an attempt to escape. The tent flap opened, a large wolf, the one from the Valley entered, he was wearing the uniform of a commander.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked seeing Liu trying to escape. "Trying to escape?" he said picking Liu up, slamming her into the ground, forcing the breath out of her, Liu gasped at the pain as the wolf pinned her down.

"You and the Dragon Warrior may have escaped me in the Valley, but you won't escape this time," The Wolf said holding Liu against the ground by the neck.

"Where is the Dragon Warrior?" He demanded.

"I…don't… know," Liu gasped as the wolf squeezed her neck.

"LIAR!" The Wolf yelled. "I know you fled the valley with him and another tiger!"

"I don't…know…where he…is," Liu gasped grabbing at the wolf's arms. "I swear!"

"Tell me where he is, or I'll hand you over to my soldiers, and let them have their way with you," The wolf threatened.

"I don't know where he is!" Liu said again.

-With Dai-

Dai had been searching the large camp for Liu for over an hour, and so for he'd found no evidence she was here until…

"Liar!" He heard someone yell, on a hunch, he followed the voice to a large command tent.

"Tell me where he is, or I'll hand you over to my soldiers, and let them have their way with you," He heard a voice threaten.

"I don't know where he is!" A girl's voice cried, it was Liu, it had to be.

Dai pushed the tent flap aside and entered, he saw the same wolf from the Valley holding Liu against the ground by the neck.

"Fine," The Wolf said turning around, seeing Dai standing by the entrance.

"Here, take her," He said shoving Liu forward roughly making her fall onto her face. "Do what you want to her, I don't care."

Dai picked Liu up off the ground, she fought against him as he dragged her out of the tent not knowing it was him under the helmet.

"Let me go!" She yelled fighting against the tiger.

"Hold still," Dai hissed quietly as she punched and kicked him.

"She's a feisty one isn't she," A soldier commented as they passed a small group warming by a fire. Dai held Liu by the arms so she couldn't hit him anymore and led her out on the encampment.

"What are you going to do to me?" She asked fearfully.

Dai remained silent until he was sure they were far enough away to avoid being overheard before he stopped.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" Liu asked falling to her knees, beginning to sob slightly. At least she'd be able to rejoin her family again she thought, closing her eyes, waiting for the fatal strike.

"I'm not going to kill you," Dai said aloud, taking his helmet off, dropping it to the ground.

Liu whipped around upon hearing Dai's voice.

"Dai, but…how?" She asked.

"I'll explain later, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Dai said.

"I'm okay, they took my armor and weapons, though," Liu said.

"As long as you're okay," Dai said. "Come one, we'd better go before they figure out what I've done."

"How you even know where I was?" Liu asked.

"I saw them carrying you into the camp," Dai explained. "I went in to search for you, I was about to give up when I heard the wolf yelling."

"What happened to your vest?"

"One of the soldiers tore it," Liu explained making Dai growl. "I'm pretty sure it was an accident, though."

"Have you seen Tigress anywhere?" Dai asked

"No, I thought she was with you," Liu answered.

Dai shook his head. "I haven't seen her since the ridge,"

A rain drop landed on Dai's head making him look up.

"We'd better find some shelter," He said looking at the dark storm clouds above them. "I saw a cave not to far back that should work."

Dai held Liu close to him as she shivered, he would have made a fire but it was still raining outside the cave, and he didn't want to draw any more attention. The pair had taken shelter from the storm in a cave.

Liu shivered against him and drew closer.

He wished he had a blanket or a cloak, something to cover her up with and her damp clothing wasn't helping either.

Liu's breathing pattern soon told him the panther had fallen asleep on his shoulder, eventually; Dai drifted off to sleep as well listening to the storm outside.

When he awoke the next morning it had stopped raining, there was still a chill in the air; rainwater pooled on the ground telling him the storm had only just ceased.

The next thing he noticed was Liu lying next to him, her arm wrapped around him.

"Uh…Liu,"

"Liu, wake up," Dai said.

The Panther mumbled something and woke up, realizing the position they were in she stood up and backed away.

"I'm so sorry!" She said. "I didn't mean too,"

"It's alright," Dai said. "You were cold, and I let you lay next to me,"

"Come on, we'd better get moving, we have to get to Gong-men City," Dai said standing up, brushing himself off.

"What about Tigress?" Liu asked.

"If she's still alive she'll head for the city that was the plan," Dai said.

"*Cough* Okay,*cough*," Liu said between coughs, which alarmed Dai.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm *cough* Fine *cough*,"

Dai quietly swore to himself.

"We'll get some help from the next village," He said.

"What if it's serious? I don't want to die!" Liu said in a panicked voice.

"You're not gonna die," Dai reassured her.

"But…" Liu said her eyes starting to water.

"Liu, you're not going to die, I promise," He said taking hold of her shoulders.

Dai knew Liu's siblings had died from illness, and he didn't want her to share the same fate.

The two left the cave, and about a mile down the road they came across a small village.

"See I told you so," Dai said.

Liu responded with another coughing fit which alarmed Dai; her cough seemed to have gotten worse.

"Excuse me, do you know where we can find a doctor, my friend is sick," Dai asked a villager who pointed down the street.

"Thank you,"

"Come on Liu," Dai said leading her down the road, to the hospital

"Another Tiger eh?" The Doctor said walking in, seeing Dai.

"It's not me, it's my friend….wait what do you mean another tiger?"

"I just treated a tigress not too long ago,"

"A tigress, what was her name?" Dai asked.

"She never said, she was pretty messed up, though," The doctor said examining Liu

"Tigress," Dai whispered.

"What happened to your friend?" The doctor asked as Liu coughed.

"We got caught out in that storm yesterday," Dai said. "We didn't exactly have time to pack cold weather clothing,"

"You're friend is gonna be fine, it's just a nasty cough from being out in the rain too long," The Doctor said, looking at Dai.

"Thank you," Dai said.

"My pleasure, Dragon Warrior,"

"How did you…?"

"Never mind," Dai said. "Thanks again for your help,"

Dai and Liu left the hospital and roamed around the village.

"I need new clothing," Liu announced.

"I don't really have the money Liu," Dai said searching his pockets and finding about ten Yuan.

"Sorry," He said again,

"I need a bath too," Liu added smelling herself. "I stink!"

"Here's a couple of Yuan, why don't you head to the bathhouse," Dai said handing Liu a few coins.

"What! I can't take a bath around other people, what if there are boys in there!?" Liu exclaimed.

"Calm down, the boys and girl baths are separated," Dai said.

"Still, I can't bathe around other people; it's weird!" Liu said.

"Fine, you'll have to wait until it rains again or we could find a river or something," Dai said.

"Fine, I'll wait," Liu said stubbornly, sticking her tongue out at Dai making him laugh at her.

Dai and Liu found a stream not too far from the Village, "You can take your bath here," Dai said.

"What?" Liu asked. "I can't bathe out in the open, what if someone sees me?"

"You'll be fine; if anything happens just shout, I'll be nearby okay," Dai said.

Dai left to give Liu some privacy but stayed within earshot. And rested against a large tree trunk, closing his eyes to rest.

A scream tore through the air, waking him up "Dai! Help!"

Nearby, Dai was resting, his eyes closed, against a large tree and heard Liu's cry for help and sprang to his feet, sprinting back to the stream where she was bathing.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Liu's attacker said advancing towards the semi-nude panther. Liu kept backing up and stumbled, falling backward into the shallow water.

Dai heard another yell and ran even faster, going down on all fours. He saw Liu standing in the water, clutching her side, her attacker wielding a blood-stained dagger.

Dai burst out from the tree-line, slamming into Liu's attacked like a black and white boulder, knocking him into the deeper water.

He pinned him there and punched him in the head until the attacker kicked him off.

"First, I'm gonna kill you, then I'm gonna take my time on the girl," He said spinning the dagger.

Dai only growled in response.

"I'm not gonna let you anywhere near her!" He growled and attacked.

"Wait! No!" He pleaded

Dai plunged his Kunai into the attacker's skull, killing him. Dai got off the body and let it float down the river.

"Are you okay?" He asked turning to Liu. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Liu said returning to shore.

"Are you kidding me!" She suddenly yelled out.

"What is it?" Dai asked.

"My clothes are gone!" Liu exclaimed making Dai chuckle.

"It's not funny Dai!" Liu said. "I can't go around in my underwear! And stop looking!"

"It's a little funny," Dai said.

Liu glared at him.

"Alright, I'll help you look," He said.

After a few minutes of searching, Dai found Liu's pants in a nearby shrub and pulled them out making tears in the fabric.

"Oops," He said.

"Liu! I found your pants!" He said.

"I got my sandals," Liu said back meeting at the river.

"Where's your shirt?" Dai asked.

"In a tree," Liu mumbled.

"Where?" Dai asked trying hard not to laugh.

"Up in a tree," Liu said.

"Can't you climb up and get it?" Dai asked as Liu got dressed.

"No," Liu admitted. "It's too high."

"I guess we'll have to make do with what we have," Dai said.

"Meaning?" Liu asked.

"You'll have to go without a vest until we can find or buy a new one," Dai said.

"What?! I can't go around without a shirt!" Liu protested.

Luckily for both of them, Dai was able to find a vest about Liu's size and stole it off the laundry line and gave it to her.

After a long time of walking in silence, Liu asked

"Why did you do that? Why did you kill him? The guy at the river?"

"It's my job," Dai answered simply.

"To kill people?" Liu asked.

"I was trained and raised as a soldier, a Samurai," Dai said. "What do you think would have happened if I hadn't interfered?"

Liu remained silent.

"But to kill him?" Liu questioned.

Dai sighed heavily.

"Liu, if I hadn't killed him he would have hurt someone else later on," Dai pointed out.

"But…"

After a full day of walking, Gong-Men City came into view in the distance.

"See, I told you we'd make it," Dai said pointing at the City.

"You think Tigress is in there somewhere?" Liu asked as they approached the City.

"I sure hope so Liu," Dai said.


	8. Chapter 8

Arrival

I don't own DreamWorks or Kung Fu Panda

* * *

In the distance, Dai could see the lights from Gong-men city, they were getting closer to the City.

"Come on Liu; we're almost there," Dai said.

As they approached the gates, Dai pulled his hood up, covering his face, so they blended in with a group of refugees better entering the city from other cities around China.

"Look at all these people," Liu said looking at the people around them.

"Refugees from the war," Dai said to her

Once they got into the city, Dai lowered his hood.

"Wow!" Liu said looking around as they walked through the streets.

"Just stay close to me," Dai said. "It's easy to get lost here."

They passed merchants trying to sell their wares and stopped when Liu went over to a stall seeing weapons.

"Look at this!" Liu said looking at the daggers, picking up a Jade Dagger. "How much?"

"About fifty Yuan," the stall owner said, Dai walked up next to Liu at that moment.

"Dragon Warrior," He said in shock, bowing, seeing Dai.

Word of him being chosen as Dragon Warrior must have reached the City sooner than Dai thought.

"How much for the dagger?" Dai asked.

"I didn't know she was with you, for you no charge." The merchant said.

"Really? Awesome!" Liu exclaimed taking the dagger, slicing at invisible enemies.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone I'm here," Dai said handing the merchant a few coins who nodded. "For the dagger."

"Come on, we'd better find a place to stay," Dai said as they walked away.

"I need a wash too, I stink!" Liu said.

After wandering around the city for a couple of hours, they stopped at a hotel that looked alright closer to the center of the city.

"Can I help you two?" The desk clerk asked looking up seeing the travel, battle worn pair.

"Can we get a room, please? We've been traveling for days." Dai said walking up to the counter.

"Preferably a room with a bath," Liu added.

"We only have one room free, on the third floor," The clerk said sliding a key across the desk toward Dai.

"We'll take it," Dai said handing the clerk his last few remaining coins.

Once up in the room, Dai noticed a problem; there was only one bed.

"I guess I'll take the floor," He said.

Liu dashed into the bathroom to wash up, and Dai walked over to a window and opened it letting some fresh air in. Outside, he could see the Tower of Sacred Flame in the distance towering over the city.

He wondered if Tigress had made it to the City yet and decided to leave to search for her. Dai had no idea she had in fact arrived in Gong-Men City a few days ahead of them.

"Liu, I'm gonna go for a walk, stay here." He said and left the room.

Dai wandered around the city for hours looking for Tigress; he asked as many people as he could if they'd seen her, no one had. He kept looking until he somehow ended up in front of his childhood home. From the outside it looked empty, curious, he walked up to a neighbor.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Do the Nakamura's still live here?"

"I'm sorry, no, they moved back to Japan some years ago after their oldest son, Dai disappeared." The neighbor said. "Such a sweet boy too."

"Oh, okay, thanks…I guess," Dai said disappointed, turning away.

"Whatcha doing?" Dai jumped and spun around to see Liu.

"Liu god…you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Dai said holding his chest.

"I'm good at stealth! I followed you from the hotel!" Liu said. "What is this place, who lived here?" she asked looking at the house.

"This is where I grew up," Dai explained.

"Wow! That's a pretty big house!" Liu said.

"Yeah, come on Liu lets head back to the hotel, its best not to be out during the night," Dai said leading her away from the house.

"But why can't we just stay here, it's your house isn't it?" Liu said.

"No, I'd rather not stay here," Dai said leading Liu back to the hotel.

The two headed back to the hotel and true to Dai's word they soon found their way blocked by a group of criminals intent on robbing them.

Dai growled at them, pushing Liu behind him.

"Give us all your coin, and we might let you live," The one in the middle, a Panther said.

"Seriously!? Do I look like I've got money?" Dai said tiredly; he really didn't want to fight these guys if he could avoid it.

"Then that'll make it difficult to pay a healer when we gut you. TAKE THEM!" The Panther yelled and sprinted at the pair.

Liu closed her eyes and heard a flurry of fighting and cursing. When she opened her eyes, she saw Dai knock the panther to his knees and decapitate him with his sword and the headless body fell over backward onto the ground.

Dai turned around sheathing his sword and saw Liu looking at him.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Liu," He said.

The next day while walking around the City they ran into a friend of Liu's a Snow Leopard named Tuggsy.

"I'm so glad to see you; I didn't think anyone else had survived the attack!" Liu said letting go of her friend.

"What attack?" Tuggsy asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Dai asked. "The Valley of Peace was attacked, everyone was killed."

"Everyone?" Tuggsy asked, and Dai nodded.

"Everyone, the whole Village was wiped out," He said.

"I can't believe it," Tuggsy said. "What about Master Shifu? Master Oogway?"

"Missing," Dai said.

"So, you're really the only ones left?"

"Yeah, just Tigress and Liu and I," Dai said. "We're still searching for Tigress, and we haven't seen her since we were ambushed in the forest."

"Liu, do you mind hanging out with you friend for a bit? I'm gonna keep searching for Tigress," Dai said.

"No problem," Liu said.

"I'll meet you at the hotel later, okay?" Dai asked.

"Okay," Liu said and ran off with Tuggsy.

"Be careful!" He yelled after the pair.

"We will!" Liu yelled back.

Dai walked off in the opposite direction looking for Tigress, now that it was the middle of the day he had a better idea of where he was going. His stomach growled loudly as he remembered he hadn't eaten in almost four days.

" _It couldn't hurt to get a quick bit to eat,"_ He thought entering a restaurant served soup.

Only then, he remembered he was out of money and left to continue his search for Tigress. Keeping his hood up probably wasn't going to help, but he still didn't feel comfortable about people for to know who he was just yet.

He stopped at a market stall selling Tofu, Tigress's favorite food.

"Excuse me, have you seen any other Tigers in the City?" He asked. "Particularly a girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old."

"Sorry, no," The stall owner said.

"Okay, thanks," Dai said leaving the stall.

Dai continued searching the market area when a hooded figure carrying a sword caught his eye, and Dai frowned looking at the sword, it was the same one he'd given Tigress before the battle. The figure's face was obscured as well preventing Dai from seeing who it was, but he could make out a tiger tail.

He growled loudly and headed for the strange figure pushing his way through the crowd.

It noticed him and broke into a sprint. Dai gave chase, chasing the person through the market, knocking stalls and people over. He finally caught up to the figure and tackled it to the ground.

"Where did you get that sword!?" He demanded, pinning the figure to the ground.

"It was given to me," The figure replied.

"Liar! You stole that from my friend!" Dai said. "What did you do to her?!"

The figure mumbled something and kicked him off, standing up, it removed its face covering and hood, revealing it had been Tigress under the hood the whole time.

"Tigress?" Dai asked in shock lowering his hood. "But I thought…"

"I was dead," Tigress said finishing his sentence. "I could say the same about you; after you got shot and the two of you fell off that ledge…"

"You thought I had died," Dai said.

"I tried to revive you, but the soldiers…there were too many of them, I had to run away," Tigress said choking up.

"I don't blame you," Dai said assuredly. "How long have you been in the City and why are you in disguise?"

"It's not by choice," Tigress said. "I've been in the City about a week so far, as for the disguise, I didn't want people knowing I'm a girl,"

"Why not?" Dai asked as they walked. "You're beautiful."

"I'm sorry," He added quickly, fearful Tigress might beat him up. "I didn't…"

Tigress remained silent, thankful for the hood obscuring her reddening face. They stopped when they reached a T- section on the road.

"Come on, my hotel room is this way," Dai said turning left.

"But mine is this way," Tigress said pointing right.

The two stood there for a moment before Tigress spoke up.

"We'll take yours," She said. "It's probably closer."

"And it was a bath," Dai added.

"A bath would be great," Tigress said. "Lead the way, Shadow Tiger,"

Dai chuckled lightly at the use of his old nickname.

When the pair reached the Hotel, they found Liu sitting on the bed.

"You found Tigress!" She said jumping off the bed.

"Yep," Dai said as Tigress made a beeline for the Bathroom. "She gonna be staying with us from now on."

"But where's she going to sleep?" Liu asked.

Dai stopped, he hadn't thought of that until now.

"Um, I guess she can sleep on the bed," He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Dai, do you have any new clothes?" Tigress's voice asked from inside the bathroom. "Mine are dirty,"

"Sorry Ti, I spent my last few coins on the hotel room," Dai said back.

"Rats!" Tigress exclaimed.

"Why don't you just wear what you already have?" Dai asked.

"My clothes are filthy! I can't wear them!" Tigress called back.

There was a long moment of silence before Tigress spoke again.

"Promise you won't try anything?" She said.

"What?" Dai asked unsure of what Tigress meant.

It became clear when she walked out of the bathroom wearing only her undergarments. Her fur still slightly damp from the bath shone brightly orange and black, her stomach was pure white, Dai could see the scars she'd acquired from training or fighting bandits, a few were fresh.

She growled at him when she noticed his stare.

"Sorry," Dai apologized, turning his head. "Hang on, I think I saw a robe around here somewhere."

"That would be nice, thanks," Tigress said as Dai searched around.

After a bit of searching around Dai found a robe and gave it to Tigress.

"Thanks," She said again wrapping the robe around herself.

"I guess I'll sleep on the floor with Liu," He said lying down to go to sleep. "Goodnight, Tigress."

* * *

-The next Morning-

Dai woke up feeling sore from sleeping on the floor the whole night.

"I don't suppose you have money for breakfast?" Dai asked Tigress as his stomach growled loudly.

"I have a little," Tigress said. "But not much."

The trio found a noodle shop that was in their price range and sat eating breakfast

"Did you have a girlfriend before?" Tigress asked out of nowhere.

"What?" Dai asked taken by surprise.

Do you have a girlfriend," Tigress repeated more clearly.

"I did, but I really don't want to talk about it," Dai said focusing on his bean bun.

"Sounds serious, what happened?" Tigress asked.

"I said, I don't want to talk about it," Dai repeated, growling slightly, accidentally crushing his bean bun.

"We...had an argument, it wasn't pleasant," Dai said after a minute. "It didn't end well."

"Oh, sorry," Tigress said. "I didn't mean too..."

"No, it's fine," Dai said.

"I wanted to leave the Academy to try and find my parents, she wanted to come with me," Dai explained.

Before Dai could explain further, a messenger from the Tower of Sacred Flame arrived.

"Dragon Warrior, the Master's Council request you and your friends' presence," He said and flew off.

"Well, so much for that," Dai said standing up. "Back to work, I guess."

* * *

Next Chapter, Dai meets the Masters Council; what will happen?


End file.
